1718 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1718 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Incumbents

*Monarch - George I of Great Britain

Events

* 7 January - Occasional Conformity Act repealed.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 210-211|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 15 May - James Puckle patents the Puckle Gun, an early form of machine gun.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 2 August - Quadruple Alliance formed between Britain, France, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic.cite book|title=The Pocket Date Book|publisher=Chapman and Hall|author=William L. R. Cates|year=1863]
* 11 August - War of the Quadruple Alliance: A British fleet under Admiral Byng defeats a Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape Passaro.citebook|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8]
* 17 December - War of the Quadruple Alliance: Britain, Austria and France declare war on Spain.

Undated

* The Proper motion of stars discovered by Edmond Halley.
* Marrow Controversy, an ecclesiastical dispute, in Scotland. [cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc07.m.v.html|title="New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. VII: Liutprand - Moralities", Schaff, Philip (1819-1893)|accessdate=2007-09-03]
* Greenwich Hospital receives a Royal Charter (revoked in 1829). [cite web|url=http://www.privy-council.org.uk/output/page44.asp|title=Royal Charters, Privy Council website|accessdate=2007-09-03]
* The Transportation Act of 1718 creates the punishment of penal transportation as an alternative to a death sentence. [cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/launch_tl_british.shtml|title=BBC History British History Timeline|accessdate=2007-09-03]

Births

* 18 February - Robert Henry, historian (died 1790)
* 4 April - Benjamin Kennicott, churchman and Hebrew scholar (died 1783)
* 7 April - Hugh Blair, preacher and man of letters (died 1800)
* 17 May - Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, diplomat and politician (died 1778)
* 23 May - William Hunter, anatomist (died 1783)
* 30 May - Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, politician (died 1793)
* 5 June - Thomas Chippendale, furniture maker (died 1779)
* 17 June - George Howard, field marshal (died 1796)
* 5 July - Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, Viceroy of Ireland (died 1794)
* 31 July - John Canton, physicist (died 1772)
* 3 November - John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, statesman (died 1792)

Deaths

* 6 January - Richard Hoare, goldsmith and banker (born 1648)
* 1 February - Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, politician (born 1660)
* 18 February - Pierre Antoine Motteux, dramatist (born 1663, France)
* 30 July - William Penn, Quaker and founder of the Pennsylvania colony (born 1644)
* 22 November - Blackbeard, pirate (born c.1680)
* 6 December - Nicholas Rowe, poet and dramatist (born 1674)

References

ee also